


A Birthday for Others

by finitexs



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Gen, Introspection, Lots of dialogue, many thoughts about birthdays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:07:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26964190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/finitexs/pseuds/finitexs
Summary: Birthdays never really mattered to Reimu. To her, they're just something that happens once a year. Nothing more, nothing less. But just because she doesn't care about them doesn't mean that others think the same.A fic in which Reimu celebrates her birthday.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	A Birthday for Others

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to [chai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaichan/pseuds/chaichan) for the last minute betaing. check out her stuff she writes the very rare marisa/shanghai stuff

"Marisa. It's rare for you to call me out here."

Reimu landed in front of Marisa's house, where Marisa was waiting for her with a grin on her face. Marisa was usually always the one coming to the shrine, so something was probably going on. Although, Reimu could guess why she was here.

Marisa went up to Reimu and threw an arm around her, pulling her close. She gave Reimu a pat on the back before yelling, "Reimu! Happy birthday!"

Reimu just sighed. "You don't need to yell, you know. I'm right here."

"Yeah, but that's no fun!" 

Even though Reimu was sighing, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't secretly at least a little happy. Marisa remembered every year, and Reimu definitely appreciated it. She just wished that Marisa wouldn't make such a big deal about it. It was just a _birthday_. Marisa probably cared about Reimu's birthday more than she did.

"Marisa, you know how I feel about birthdays," Reimu said as she shook her head.

Marisa grinned and shot back, "And you know how _I_ feel about your birthday."

"Yeah, I know, I know," Reimu grumbled, resigned to the fact that Marisa wouldn't change her mind. "Anyway, why'd you call me out to your place today? We usually celebrate at the shrine."

"A change of pace is nice from time to time, don't ya think?" Marisa said nonchalantly as she kicked off the ground and got on her broomstick. She floated above Reimu and looked expectantly at her.

Reimu slowly floated up from the ground, joining her in the air. "You called me here, and now we're going somewhere else?"

"Yup," Marisa said, grinning. 

Of course, Reimu really should've expected this by now. "...Alright, where are we going?

* * *

"...And that's why tsuchinokos are the best pets. You should get a pet, Reimu, they're fun to have around."

"Absolutely not," Reimu bluntly said. "I have enough people visiting the shrine already. I don't need more. Besides, Aunn basically counts as a pet, right?"

For the past few hours, Reimu had been led by Marisa around the Forest of Magic, Marisa picking up random mushrooms and talking about them and whatever else came to her mind. Despite having done this before, Marisa somehow managed to find a new mushroom to talk about every time. Reimu enjoyed these times, even if she never actually said it. It was fun hearing Marisa talk about something she liked. Marisa probably knew, too. She wouldn't have continued otherwise.

"This mushroom is the velvet shank," Marisa said as she pointed at a light brown, almost pink mushroom. "You can eat them, but you need to make sure not to get them confused with the skullcap. That'll kill you real quick. You can tell the difference by-" 

Marisa suddenly stopped talking. She squinted and stared up at the sunlight filtering through the trees. She muttered, "Should be time soon."

"Huh?" Reimu looked up. Everything looked fine to her.

Marisa got onto her broomstick, patting the spot behind her. "Hop on. We're going back to the shrine."

"What's going on?" Reimu asked, a slight frown on her face. Still, she got on without complaining. 

"You'll see," Marisa said with a mischievous grin. 

They lifted off the ground and began flying towards the shrine. Reimu put her arms around Marisa's waist and huddled closer to her. Not that she was worried about falling off, but it could get a little chilly sometimes.

It was quiet as Marisa steadily flew to the Hakurei Shrine. Reimu closed her eyes as she took in the silence. After having listened to Marisa talk for so long, she wasn't completely opposed to having some quiet. Just the sound of the wind rushing past her and the warmth from Marisa in front of her was comforting to her.

"Reimu," Marisa said in an oddly serious tone, breaking the silence. "You still haven't changed what you think about your birthday?"

"Nope. I still don't care about it." Reimu frowned and added on, "I don't get why people care so much. It's just a birthday. It happens once a year and then it passes. That's it. No need to make such a big deal about it."

Marisa sighed. "You can't just stop people from caring about you."

Reimu shrugged. Not that Marisa could see it or anything but still. She admitted, "I guess."

"Even if you don't care, other people do. They wanna appreciate you. Don't you think that's something worth celebrating?"

"Hm..." Reimu considered what Marisa was saying. She supposed that what Marisa was saying wasn't _completely_ wrong. Still, even just a simple "Happy birthday" would've been fine for her. "You're not trying to guilt trip me into accepting a gift, are you?"

"What? No, no, 'course not," Marisa said, maybe a little too quickly. "I just want you to appreciate yourself some more. You've saved Gensokyo a bunch, and you deserve some credit for that, don't ya think?"

"I... guess so?" Reimu hesitantly said. She didn't actively look for attention, but she wouldn't have minded a bit. She couldn't exactly demand for attention, though. It wouldn't make her look too good.

"Yeah, exactly! Ya get it?"

"What's the point of bringing this up again, anyway?" Reimu suspiciously asked. 

"Well..." Marisa said as she landed in front of the shrine. Marisa waited and let Reimu pass her, following behind her.

"Marisa," Reimu flatly said as she opened the door to the shrine, "are you planning some-"

"SURPRISE!"

Reimu was cut off as soon as she walked into her shrine. She stared at what seemed like all of Gensokyo huddled in her living room... How did everyone even fit? Her shrine definitely wasn't that big. But she was getting distracted. That wasn't the main point.

Reimu opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. All she could do was stare in surprise. 

Marisa laughed and said, "Surprised? ... You aren't mad, are ya?"

"...No," Reimu said after some thought.

"Good enough for me!" Marisa laughed. "You all heard her, let's get this party started!"

The room exploded in activity as everyone began chatting and moving around, pulling out food and gifts. Reimu was still a little surprised as some people came up to wish her a happy birthday. She still wasn't sure how to feel, but she definitely didn't dislike it.

Reimu was pulled out of her thoughts as Sanae ran up to her and threw her arms around her. "Reeiiiimuuuuu, happy birthday! I can't believe you didn't tell any of us!"

Reimu couldn't help but smile a bit at Sanae's energetic behavior. She had no idea how Sanae had so much energy all the time, but she would've been lying if she said it wasn't uplifting.

"Ah, well..." Reimu said. "If you know it, you know it. I won't go out of my way to tell anyone."

Sanae pouted and squeezed her arms tighter around Reimu. "But it's once a year, Reimu. Once a year! That's important!"

"Alright, fine, fine, it's important. Now you know," Reimu grumbled as she tried to push Sanae away. "Can you let go of me? It's getting hard to breathe."

Sanae let go, a pout still on her face. "Tell us these things next time!"

"I will, don't worry," Reimu said as she caught her breath. Sanae definitely was stronger than she looked.

"Hello, Reimu. I hope you don't mind that I expanded your house in order to accommodate everyone."

Reimu looked behind her and saw that Sakuya was standing there with a slight smile on her face. She greeted her with a nod. "Hello, Sakuya. I'm surprised Remilia isn't with you."

Sakuya chuckled and said, "There were some problems that she had to deal with, but rest assured, she will be here later. She loves anything involving you, after all."

"Of course she does," Reimu sighed. Remilia was probably worse than Sanae when it came to clinginess, so she wasn't looking forward to that. But even she had to admit that it felt weird for Remilia not to be here.

"Milady has been trying to persuade Lady Flandre to leave her room and join the celebration, but that's been proving rather difficult. Lady Flandre is quite fond of her room."

Reimu nodded. She couldn't blame Flandre, honestly. After all, they only met once.

"Milady was also wondering why you didn't inform her of your birthday. She was rather panicked as she tried preparing a gift for you at the last moment," Sakuya said with a chuckle.

"You know," Reimu said with a shrug.

"Very well. I shall tell her of your response, including the shrug. Not that it will be required since she herself will arrive later, hopefully with Lady Flandre."

Reimu groaned. "Wonderful."

Sakuya just smiled and said, "Happy birthday, Reimu." The next moment, Sakuya was gone as if she hadn't been there in the first place. 

"Would it kill her to just walk away normally for once," Reimu muttered. Sakuya ended her conversations like that for as long as Reimu knew her.

But... something was bothering Reimu this entire time. How did everyone know about her birthday? No one knew her birthday. Or at least, _almost_ everyone did. Only Marisa knew. Reimu looked around but couldn't find her. She had an idea of where she was, at least.

Reimu excused herself from the party and walked outside. Where was she... There she was, sitting on the main shrine gate. Reimu flew up and sat next to her. "Hey, Marisa. I was wondering where you were."

Marisa looked away from the sunset and looked up at Reimu. She grinned. "What's up, Reimu? Are you worried about me?" she teasingly said.

Reimu shrugged. "I don't know. Am I?"

Marisa just laughed and went back to looking at the sunset.

Both of them were quiet as they watched the sun. The sound of everyone in the shrine was in the background, but it wasn't loud enough to break the calm. Eventually, Reimu spoke up. "Did you tell everyone about my birthday?"

"Caught me red-handed," Marisa laughed. "You already said you weren't mad, no taking it back now."

"I'm not. Just... surprised," Reimu said. 

"Good. It was always just you and me celebrating alone. Not that I minded, but a change of pace is nice, don't ya think?" Marisa said, repeating what she said earlier that day.

Reimu was quiet for a few seconds before saying, "Just do me a favor next time and warn me in advance next time." 

"'Next time'? That means you wanna do it again next year?"

"Like you said, a change of pace isn't bad," Reimu admitted. She let out a groan and said, "I just realized I'm gonna have to clean everything up. This isn't any different from a normal party."

"I'll help ya, don't worry," Marisa said, a smile on her face. 

"Right, like you'd be any help," Reimu teased. "Come on. Let's go back. It'll be boring for you if you just stay up here."

Marisa stood up and said, "Alright, alright, but only because you asked so nicely."

The two of them jumped off the shrine gate and flew towards the shrine, rejoining the others. The party was still far from over, and Reimu would enjoy it while she could.

**Author's Note:**

> this was actually an idea i had for a while, but i just couldn't find the time and motivation to write it. luckily, i was gifted a lot of motivation and free time today, so i sat down and decided to focus on writing this. it's shorter than my usual fics. that's fine, though. it tells the story i want it to tell, and that's all i can ask for. 
> 
> reimu is just a mouthpiece for my own thoughts on birthdays, honestly. with a little embellish, of course, but the main thoughts are the same. i really don't see the big deal about birthdays, especially when it's my own. it just means i'm a year closer to the void. but i won't lie and say that i don't enjoy people remembering my birthday. even a little "happy birthday" without any gift is nice.
> 
> anyways, kudos and comments are always welcome. thanks for reading


End file.
